iMac Finder leaves whitespace after file deletion

Question

I'm a new Mac user with OS X Lion. When deleting items in finder, I'm surprised that, unlike Windows, the computer doesn't automatically clean up the white space created by my deletion. So, in a file with many photos, there is a lot of white space between the remaining photos. How can I correct this without manually moving the photos?

Solution

Use a view that does it automatically

Only the Icon view leaves empty space when removing items. List view and Column view in Finder don't leave space after removing some items. You can switch views in the View menu.

Arrange items

Select View » Arrange By » (anything) to group items by a specific criterion. It will automatically reorder items when some are removed. The desktop cannot be arranged.

Sort items

You can keep items sorted by keeping Option pressed, and then selecting View » Sort By » (anything).

Clean up

If you don't want Finder to keep a folder's contents tidy, you can manually invoke View » Clean Up By » (anything) after you're done.

Comments

[Serge]

Windows Explorer has the same feature. It is the "Autoarrange Icons" menu item in the View menu of Windows Explorer. I believe that in Finder you will find the similar thing